Iro
by Sagashiteru
Summary: Battler attempts to teach Beatrice to talk normally. Shameless Battler/Beatrice fluff
**I ship these two so hard. :3**

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The sun was still high in the sky when the festival began. The island was a few dozen miles away from Rokkenjima, and several times larger. The festival was almost on the shores of the sea. The sounds and smells only a festival could bring were high in the air, and Battler found himself grinning as he looked around the splendor, Beatrice's arm linked with his while she carried a parasol in her other hand, every bit as regal as a queen.

"Sonata – " she began.

 _Thou_ –

" _Sonata_ janee daro!"

 _Don't say "thou"_!

"Tch, how about _omae_ , then?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"What? You don't mind being called _omae_ by your girlfriend?"

Ignoring the warm, fuzzy feeling that grew in his chest at hearing her call herself his _girlfriend_ , he said, "No, of course not. I can't imagine using polite language with the person closest to me."

A slight blush coloring her cheeks, she turned away to look at the stalls. Walking up to her, he stood beside her. "What do you think of the festival?" He threw his head back and took a deep breath, the various scents from the stalls all around them coming to him. "Aren't Japanese festivals the best thing ever?"

"They're… pretty good," she said.

"Come on, let's – "

Softly she gasped, leaving his arm and hurrying away to a stall. Raising an eyebrow, he followed her to see what caught her eye. For a usually perfectly dignified witch with the aura of a golden goddess, he loved seeing her true, playful self when she couldn't hide it. It was good, he thought, that she _didn't_ usually try to hide it when she was with him, but she was one of the shyest people he'd ever seen, and under her regality there was adorable awkwardness.

"What are you looking at?"

A game to catch plushies, bears and such. He chuckled.

She frowned in slight self-consciousness. "What?" she said, a little defensively. "I'm allowed to like cute things!"

He took her hand in his, and she looked away, blushing, and he found himself smiling slightly.

He loved her. _I should get it for her_.

"Warawa – " Beatrice began, using an obsolete archaic kenjougo form of the first person pronoun that she so loved to refer to herself by.

Battler clicked his tongue in impatience. Beatrice glared at him.

" _Wa_ – _ta_ – _shi_ ," he said slowly, pointedly.

"Wakatta wa..." she mumbled with a pout, looking away.

 _Fine…_

Battler smirked. "You're cute."

She glared at him again. "I'm the Golden Witch Beatrice! I am not _cute_!"

"Of course," he said carelessly. Sneaking his arm stealthily around her waist, he pulled her to him. She gasped as she lost her balance and collapsed against him.

"You know, if all these people weren't here..." Leaning forward, he whispered his fantasies to her, his breath on her neck.

Her mouth fell open. Blushing redder than his hair, she pushed him away, her eyes scandalously wide.

"Are you sure you love me?" she demanded. "Or do you just love torturing me?"

He laughed.

"Torturer!" she teased. "Tooorturer!"

"That's rich, coming from you!"

She stuck her tongue out at him, and gave him a light push. Before he could retaliate, she dashed away from, disappearing into the crowd, giggling like a girl hopelessly in love.

"Oi, mate yo!" he called, before running after her.

She led him through the festival, running fast, him close on her heels. He chased her through the stalls, dodging around people as elegantly as he could (not very). She led him to the edge of the festival and beyond, to the slope of the hill overlooking the sea, under the shade of thin trees. Giggling, she tripped, her parasol falling out of her hand. She rolled down the hill on the grass a distance, and he tripped over her, falling with her until they stopped a distance from the sea on the fairly steep slope of the hill, laughing in delight, their faces flushed, lying in each other's arms.

"The world really is a different color when you're in love, isn't it?" Beatrice said softly, looking at the gentle, deep blue surface of the sea. It was beautiful, Battler thought. The sky above was a slight blue, and the sea several shades deeper, meeting on the horizon, maybe like two people destined to be together finally uniting.

"…When you can be with the one you love."

"Then let's stay together, 'kay?"

He leaned down, brushing her gold hair off her forehead and leaving a soft kiss in its place, and linked took her right hand with his left, linking their fingers together.

"Mhm," he said.

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 **Note: Beatrice has a very specific way of talking in Japanese. I did my best to translate it. It isn't exactly correct, but it can give you an idea of what it feels like.**

 **Review, please? :3**

 ** _Yondekurete arigatou_**


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